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Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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I just took Zoe on a walk (my first due to work, DH has been doing it so far). Several times we passed houses with dogs outside, one behind a fence, one in an invisible fence, and two little guys in the front yard with their dad. The dogs in yards started barking. Zoe would stop and stare intently, pulling to the end of her leash. That all seems normal, but I also noticed that her hair along her back would stand up and she would do a couple guttural barks. Her tail was up the whole time, mostly at attention but a couple of wags in there. I would remain calm and then redirect her attention. When she was looking back at me, but wagging, and her hair relaxed, I gave her a treat.
Is the hair thing normal or a possible sign of aggression? Since she is going to be a big dog, I want to make sure she plays well with others. If this is a problem, what should I being doing?
Oh, and we start training class a week from Sunday. The only place available in the next couple weeks was Petsmart, and they recommended "basic" rather then puppy b/c of her age and size. Hopefully that will help socialize her.
Yup, it is just the dog being on guard. Totally normal. My old dog used to do that whenever anyone walked in the house and it would go down after she got a sniff of them and realized no harm was intended upon him or the family.
Ha! shadow had cats as an example as a puppy. Whenever she meets an animal of any kind she puts a hump in her back, stands on her toes, puffs up, and does this little sideways crab walk. Just like the cat who was her mentor. When she figures out that the new critter is not a threat she will relax.
Mind you, she also displays this pose at garbage cans, mailboxes, yard waste....
my bros husky does this when he is excited and wants to play w/ other dogs.
it could also be a over stimulation and entering into agressive for him though.
I say your dogs on guard, but that's not always agressive, could mean she's unsure of circumstances.
to socialize take her to socializing classes. But realize that certain breeds talk different languages and there could just be miscommunication. My Cody has a problem w/ labs and huskys because they are so in your face and dorky(not in a mean way ...I love them!) BUT he can read the body launguage of any herding breed and gets along w/ them fine.
my chihuahua does it and it's hilarious. Hair goes up, tail goes up, growling starts, and then he steps behind me for protection
My last dog did that. A 130 pound doberman/rott cross hiding behind me & peeking out around my butt, growling the whole time.
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Expect more dumb questions in the coming weeks *blush*
